Do you eat 5 to 12 servings of fruits and vegetables every day?
I bet you would love for your family to eat more fruits and vegetables (and so would you!). The most recent recommendation is 5-12 servings and I’m pretty sure MOST people don’t eat nearly that.
I have some really clever ways to hide fruit and vegetable servings!
It is not difficult for me to personally get my recommended fruits and vegetables. My house is filled with fresh produce of all descriptions. I have fresh watermelon, honeydew melon, cantaloupe, pears, apples (red delicious and granny smith), navy oranges, tangerines, blueberries, green and red grapes, bananas, a mango, black plums, nectarines, lemons, limes, avocado. .. and I’m probably missing something. I also have several bags of frozen fruit in the freezer (mostly berries). That’s just the fruit!
I won’t start listing all the fresh vegetables I have on hand… I know I would be missing out on a lot. However, health is not about what I eat today (or what my family eats today). Health is about what we eat consistently over time. Every day of getting plenty of fresh whole fruits and vegetables adds to the grand total that will make a difference throughout your entire life. It will affect how you feel, how you look, how you move, how you respond to viruses, how you fight things like cancer. It is important that you pay attention to this now. It is not too late to start eating more fruits and vegetables.
As a mom, I’ve found several creative ways over the years to add extra servings of vegetables to meals and snacks. You know the obvious ways, i.e. salads, vegetable side dishes, and fresh fruit snacks or desserts, but these can get boring or tedious.
Here are 12 ways to make sure you eat more fruits and vegetables.
- Use grated vegetables In Pasta Sauces: When using a canned pasta sauce, I always sauté onions, garlic, fresh mushrooms, green and red bell peppers, and add the sauce with or without browned ground beef, but I ALSO grate several large carrots to put on. The carrots give the sauce a fresh flavor boost and the tomato sauce disguises the carrot flavor. To this day my family doesn’t know that I put carrots in their pasta sauce.
- grated vegetables they’re also good on meatloaf or burgers.
- When you have spaghetti, grate a zucchini or 2 lengthwise and add to long noodles. If you peeled it, they may not even know it!
- Mix grated vegetables (carrots, onions, in salad dressings or sour cream and use as a vegetable dip or corn chips.
- shakes – Using fresh or frozen berries as a base, add a little flax seed oil, a banana and a little cantaloupe (watermelon, honeydew or cantaloupe) Then for more runny JUICE, 2 large carrots per person and 1 pear per person, to pour into the blender instead of water!
- Add some “super fruit” powder or “green” powder to your shakes for added impact. Today it’s easy to find organic freeze-dried acai powder, goji powder, raspberry powder, or any number of pure fruit powders high in antioxidants. You can even find a mix of vegetables and fruits… these powders dramatically increase the power of your smoothie.
- semi-frozen strawberry yogurt– have a cup of frozen strawberries, 1 cup of strawberry yogurt, 2 tablespoons of protein powder and 2 tablespoons of flaxseed oil. Mix. Add enough apple or orange juice (or water) for the berries to blend) Pour into bowls. This is MUCH more delicious than ice cream and makes a wonderful breakfast for kids who don’t like to eat in the morning.
- make more pans– Meatless Casseroles with Cheese and Spices are a delicious way to load up on veggies, and they’re easy too! Cut. Remove. Bake. Attend.
- make it accessible…Always fresh chopped and portioned vegetables…with meals I pull out the large salad and pull out your favorite salad dressings and open the lid and place it right next to the silverware, I always have fresh homemade sauce available and often have it they will take as condiment or garnish.
- make cool shoe racks for dessert instead of cakes. Lots of fruit in a lightly greased baking dish topped with a crumble of equal parts raw oats, almond flour, shredded coconut, and a tablespoon of brown sugar. Add a little coconut oil to make a crumbly mixture and bake at 350 until the fruit is soft and bubbly. If you are using apples or peaches, sprinkle on a little cinnamon. The berries may require a little sweetener of your choice. It’s very quick to make something like this and pop it in the oven after taking the pan out. It’s ready when you finish your meal!
- Wrap large lettuce leaves around sandwich filling instead of bread.
- and do not forget celery or carrot sticks spread with peanut butter. Hmm!
The other night, my teenage daughter ASKED for a vegetarian dinner. I took some pitas and brushed them with olive oil and sprinkled them with garlic powder and sea salt and then baked them until lightly browned at 450 degrees. Then I served some homemade salsa, a guacamole made with fresh avocado, juice of one lemon, crushed garlic clove, and cilantro, and served both salsas with the “chips” and some carrots, celery, cucumbers, broccoli, and cherry tomatoes. The ONLY reason she asked for this is because she LOVES “homemade nacho chips”.
My rule of thumb is… if I have something they don’t love, I serve it with something they love!
Happy healthy eating to you, and get your 5-12 a day! Twelve years are next to wholesomeness!